123 



imLF'HOUR EXPERIMENTS 
WITH PLANTS 




LUTHER BURBANK 




"^HETHER the gr owing of plants be taken 



^ ^ up as a science, a profession, a business, or 
merely for recreation, there is ever present the need 
to understand nature^ s methods and her forces in 
order to be able to viake use of them — to guide them. 

The purpose of this booklet is to afford a gliwpse 
of the interest and value of the works of Luther 
Burbank, the "imznrd of the plant ivorld.''' In 
the new Burbank books are facts about plants 
stranger thcui fiction; expert guidance in every 
detail of plant culture; interpretations of the laws 
and principles of nature, with specific recommenda- 
tions as to how nature^ s ways may be put to practical 
use for pleasure and profit; and the inspiration 
and p7iceless secrets of the ivorld's foremost plant 
creator — the sum total of his unparcdleled experi- 
ence and skill. 

But remember that ivhat is included here is only 
a taste, a thousandth jjart of the whole ti^easure 
that may be yours if you own the complete library. 




g)C!.A659286 



Copyright 1922 
By P F. Collier & Son Company 



MAR 24 1922 



Half-Hour Experiments 



What to Work For in Experiments 
Witii Plants 

The Practical Essentials of Hand 
PoUenizing 

How to Burbank Your Geraniums 

How to Make Old Fruit Trees 
Young and Productive 

THE ordinary garden methods may be had 
from any one of a hundred sources. But 
practical and dependable guidance in the field 
of plant experimentation is most difficult to ob- 
tain. In this but partially explored field that 
off*ers unlimited possibilities for pleasure and 
profit^ Luther Burbank is best qualified of all 
contemporary plant breeders to point the way to 
success. Appeal to authority in plant improve- 
ment means appeal to Burbank^ the dean of 
plant breeders. 

The half -hour experiments appearing in this 
booklet are from the works of Luther Burbank. 
They are experiments that you may actually 
put into practice in your garden or orchard^ and 
may be relied upon as authentic. 



At the Door 

FLOWERS offer the most inviting field for the amateur, 
even while they still hold their full attraction for the 
practiced experimenter. 

There is opportunity for skill in the blending of different 
shades in a flower^ far greater than the painter's skill in 
applying colors to the canvas. 

Even the flowers that grow beside my home are always 
undergoing observation and being tested as to their ca- 
pacity for further education. So pictures taken in different 
seasons do not have the same appearance. At the moment, 
this beautiful rose has the place of honor as the decoration 
selected for the porch. 

— Luther Burbank. 

The color illustration shorvs the door to Bur- 
bank's home in Santa Rosa. Does your orvn 
look anything like this? Have you exhausted 
all the possibilities for pleasure and beautiful 
results from knowing about and working with 
flowers? 



2 



What to Work for in Experiments 
with Plants 



NATURE has been carrying on selective^ world-wide 
breeding of plants and animals on a constantly widen- 
ing scale for millions of years: but nature does not care for 
sweet corn; thin-skinned^ seedless, juicy oranges; head let- 
tuce; self -blanching celery; double roses; or the farmers' 
crops of varied grains and potatoes which now are, in most 
cases at least, a hundred times as productive and of almost 
infinitely improved qualities. 

Man has, at first unconsciously and later consciously, 
produced all these marvelous improvements and ten thousand 
others and is now making and will make improvements in 
everything, plant and animal, which is useful to him. Na- 
ture has time without limit, but man has immediate need for 
better and still better food and must take a hand in hasten- 
ing and directing plant improvement. 

Immediate possibilities for plant improvement outnumber 
the improvements which have already been wrought, a thou- 
sand to one. It would be impossible here to begin to cata- 
logue the improvements which can be wrought — improve- 
ments in size, shape, color, texture, juiciness, flavor, sweet- 
ness, or chemical content of. fruits; improvements in the 
appearance, tenderness, taste, cooking qualities, and nutri- 
tive elements in vegetables; improvements in length and 
strength of fiber in cotton, flax, hemp, and in many other 
textile plants; improvements in the quantity and quality 
and color of grains; improvements in amount and value of 
the chemical content of sugar beets, sorghum, coiFee, tea, 
and all other plants which are raised for their extracts — 
improvements all of them, which are capable of turning 
losses into profits, and of multiplying profits, instead of 
merely adding to them by single per cents. 

Improving the yield, and consequently the usefulness and 
profit of existing plants, however, is but the beginning of 
the work before us. An almost equally rich field lies in 
saving plants from their own extravagances. Under this 
head might well come the large subject of bringing trees 

8 



to early fruiting, or of greatly shortening the period from 
seed to maturity in shade and lumber trees. The rapid- 
growing walnut^ and pineapple quince^ and chestnut seed- 
lings bearing at six months from the seed, stand forth as 
strong encouragement to those who vrould take up this line. 

Then there is the broad subject of adapting plants to 
special localities. The hop crop of California, the cabbage 
crop near Racine^ Wisconsin, the celery crop near Kala- 
mazoo, the cantaloupe crop at Rocky Ford and Imperial 
Valley, and the seed farms of California — all of these bear 
eloquent testimony to the profit of a specialty properly 
introduced. 

Yet we haye not touched on the most interesting field in 
plant improyement — the production, through crossing, 
hybridizing and selection, of wholly new plants to meet 
entirely new demands. 

All of these things are as immediate in possibilities and 
consequences as transcontinental railroads were fifty years 
ago. All can be made to come about with such apparent 
ease that future generations will take them as a matter of 
course. 

The cost and the quality of eyerything that we eat and 
wear depends on this work of plant improyement. 

— Luther Burbank. 
(Vol. I, p. 260-277) 



Among the outstanding methods of plant improve- 
ment are pollination, grafting, and budding. The 
firststeps in practical work explained in this booklet 
are the methods Luther Burbank has successfully 
employed in thousands of separate experiments. 

4 



The Practical Essentials of 
Hand-Pollenizing 

THE essence of pollenizing is merely the transfer of 
pollen from the stamen of one flower to the stigmatic 
surface at the end or rarely at the side of the pistil of an- 
other. This is the work that is ordinarily accomplished by 
the insect. It is all that the plant experimenter accom- 
plishes when he wishes to effect the crossing of different 
plants of the same species or the wider crossings commonly 
called hybridizing^ of different species. 

There is nothing occult in the practice of the bee or in 
the imitation of his work as practiced by the hand of the 
pollenizer. ^Miat is accomplished in each ca^e is the purely 
mechanical transfer of a certain number of minute pollen 
grains from one place to another. Beyond that^ everything 
depends on the vital activities of the plant tissues them- 
selves. Specific methods are necessary to effect cross- 
pollenizing in the case of sundry types of flowers that have 
developed blossoms curiously modified as to form or details 
of structure. But the general processes of hand-poUenizing 
as they apply to the chief flowers of the orchard and garden, 
may be stated in a few words. 

The essential thing is to secure a certain quantity of 
pollen^ usually by shaking it from the flower on a watoh 
crystal or other small receptacle, and to transfer this pollen 
to the receptive pistil of another flower either with the 
finger tip — which furnishes in general the most useful piece 
of apparatus — or with a camel's-hair brush. It is desirable 
to cover the receptive portion (stigma) of the pistil fully 
with pollen, partly to insure complete fertilization^ and 
partly to prevent the vitiation of the experiment through 
possible subsequent deposits of pollen from another source. 

If the flower to be fertilized has stamens of its own^ 
these should be removed before they are fully ripe — which 
is often a few hours or a day before the foreign pollen 
should be applied. This removal of the stamens may usu- 
ally be done with a pair of small pinchers. In case of 
flowers that have short pistils— the cherry^ apple^ and other 
orchard fruits being good examples — the unopened flower 

5 



bud may be cut around at about the middle with a thin- 
bladed kiiife^ the anthers being thus excised at a single 
stroke. 

So-called composite flowers^ however^ require special 
treatment. The daisy and the sunflower are familiar ex- 
amples. Here the true flowers are very small and grouped 
in masses. Individual treatment is usually out of the ques- 
tion. The best method is to wash away the pollen with a 
carefully directed stream of water from a garden hose, or 
by spurting water from the mouth; after which the head 
of the pollenizing flower is rubbed against the one selected^ 
thus effecting fertilization en masse. 

In exce^Dtional cases it may be desirable also to cover the 
fertilized flower with a paper bag to prevent the visit of 
insects; but in practicing pollination on a large scale this 
may usually be omitted by those who have experience 
enough to recognize the hybrids from the others. If the 
stigma has been satisfactorily covered with pollen, it will 
present no exposed surface for the reception of other pollen 
grains. 

The rule is simply this : Seek nature's plan and follow it. 
In other words^ take a lesson from the bees^ and poUenize 
the flowers somewhat as they do. Bear in mind the essen- 
tials of the process^ which are the same for every flower. 
Study the mechanism of each new flower and adapt your 
precise method to the needs of the individual case. It does 
not matter just how the pollen reaches the stigma^ provided 
it does reach it. 

Any amateur who wishes to test the matter may do so to 
his complete satisfaction by making the simplest experiment 
in cross-pollenizing and watching the growth of the hybrid 
his work brings forth. A very short course of practice will 
give you the knack, and will lead to surprising, fascinating^ 
and perhaps far-reaching results. 

— Luther Burbank. 
(Vol. II, p. 261-266) 

For an initial experiment try hybridizing your 
geraniums, after reading Burbank's instructions 
in the following article. 



6 



How to Burbank Your Geraniums 



HY single out the geranium for your first experiment 



W pollenizing? Burbank gives the following reasons 
for recommending the plant to his amateur disciples and 
suggests the possibilities in working with this common 
flower which almost everyone grows in his garden or win- 
dow box. 

''Some of my experiments in hybridizing have been con- 
ducted with the idea of producing fragrant races of gera- 
niums. The chief difficulty in this work is that most of the 
fragrant geraniums have been grown for such a length of 
time from cuttings that they have for the most part lost the 
power of producing seeds. This makes it obviously difficult 
to secure seeds from the plants that are precisely the ones 
it would be desirable to use for the purpose. 

''Nevertheless^ I have produced a number of varieties 
having fragrance^ of very attractive new qualities. One of 
these fragrant varieties is developed from a compact-grow- 
ing Australian form which produces an enormous amount 
of seed. This fragrant variety^ which I have named Coco- 
nut Geranium, has a most pleasing fragrance and is unusu- 
ally hardy and handsome in growth and foliage. Bearing 
as it does an abundance of pollen^ it was used to pollinate 
the well-known Rose Geranium so much used in perfumery^ 
and which never bears seed. But by the use of pollen of 
the Coconut Geranium^ seeds were produced on the Rose 
Geranium by which a whole new series of variously per- 
fumed geraniums are now growing. I also worked at one 
time in selecting the geraniums for the production of large 
flowers of dazzling brilliant scarlet color^ and with a good 
measure of success. 

"It will thus appear that there is abundant opportunity 
for improving the geraniums^ even by working with the 
species ordinarily under cultivation. However^ the best 
opportunity for work in this line will involve hybridizing 
experiments in which the exceedingly hardy wild species 
are utilized. It should be possible thus to produce new 
races of geraniums that have altogether exceptional 
qualities. 




7 



*'The wild species include some that are white in color as 
well as those that are pink or white striped with pink or 
with reddish veins. So there is opportunity to have a wide 
^ choice as to color variation. The cross might likely result 
I also in giving the geraniums enhanced vigor^ so that new 
graces of perpetual bloomers would be produced." 

;■: (Vol. VII, p. 182-184) 

''The Practical Essentials of Hand Pollenizing" (See 
pages 5-6), gives the details of the simple, yet practical^ 
methods by which hybridizing is accomplished. The dia- 
gram below shows the construction of the geranium, and 
should be of further assistance in your work. It remains 
only for you to apply these methods to the geraniums you 
have chosen for your experiment. 

(A) Inflorescence of a geranium; 
open flower on left showing con- 
dition with mature anthers and 
immature pistil; open flower on 
right showing condition with 
mature pistil and faded (de- 
funct) anthers. 

(B) Stamens and pistil from lefr- 
hand flower, enlarged. 

(C) Pistil with stamens removed, 
enlarged. 

(D) Mature stamen, enlarged. 

(E) Mature pistil showing ovary, rJ- 
ways included in stamen-tube, 
style, and radiating stigmas, 
enlarged. 

Few plants among all the popular favorites have 
greater merits than the geraniums, and none per- 
haps offers better opportunities for interesting 
experiments that may be made by the amateur. 

—LUTHER BURBANK. 




8 



old Trees Made Young 



KAT kind of a tree is that?'' asks a neighbor^ as he 



speak of that as a tree; that is a concentrated^ double- 
barreled prune experiment. If I were to name all the vari- 
eties of iruit that are growing on the branches from that 
single trunks it would sound like reciting the names from 
a nursery catalogue. Nearly all my important experiments 
in developing a particular variety of cherry^ plum^ peachy 
apple^ almond^ nectarine^ quince^ apricot, nut^ or timber tree 
are made,, at one stage or another, in these tree colonies." 

Of course^ the average person who inspects my farms has 
no thought of becoming an experimenter on a large scale 
and there would be no occasion to practice multiple grafting 
and regrafting on any such scale as that employed at the 
Gold Ridge farm. But I call particular attention to this 
matter of fruit-tree grafting, because there is a lesson in it 
not merely for the commercial grower of fruity but for tens 
of thousands of persons scattered across the length and 
breadth of the country who have in their gardens a few 
fruit trees^ at present of no apparent value^ that might be 
made to bear good fruit in abundance. 

Moreover^ there are other thousands who have on their 
farms neglected orchards^ run riot with weeds and bringing 
no monetary return whatever^ which might be made the 
most productive and valuable portions of the entire acreage. 
And in each case the grafting of good varieties of fruit on 
the old and otherwise worthless stock is the key to the 
entire situation. 

Fortunately the facts of the situation are now being 
called to the attention of the general public^ in particular 
by the workers at the agricultural experiment stations. 
Bulletins are being issued that call attention to the possi- 
bilities of rejuvenating old orchards^ and in many regions 
results of this work are being manifested in the restoration 
of these abandoned orchards. In one county in Ohio, in a 
recent season^ 117 rejuvenated orchards added more than 
fifty thousand bushels to the apple crop. '*In several 
cases/' says the Ohio report^ net profit of $400 per acre 
has been secured from an abandoned orchard." The report 




''Why^ it is hardly fair to 



9 



continues: ''It is like reaping where one did not sow to 
bring one of these orchards into its own again. An invest- 
ment in one of these orchards is better than gold-mine stock, 
for there is no luck' about it. If there is any risk about 
operations of this sort, it is because of lack of business ca- 
pacity and industry." 

— Luther Burbank. 
(Vol. III. p. 99-103) 

There is not space enough here to begin to present the 
'details as to the exact methods of operation through which 
restoration and rejuvenation of old orchard trees may be 
brought about. The important questions of pruning, tree 
carpentry, soil and nourishment, and battling pests are all 
taken up at length by Burbank in his works. 

As Burbank states in the foregoing excerpts regarding 
orchard rejuvenation, ''the grafting of good varieties of 
fruit on the old and otherwise worthless stock is the key 
to the entire situation." Because of this fact, we give in the 
following pages, Burbank's statements of the general prin- 
ciples of grafting and the more common methods, which 
will afford a foundation for experiments that will prove 
fascinating and profitable. 



In one county in Ohio, in a recent season, 117 
rejuvenated orchards added more than 50,000 
bushels to the apple crop. In several cases a net 
profit of $400 per acre has been secured from 
an abandoned orchard. 

MORE THAN 500 KINDS ON ONE TREE 

The direct-color photograph on the opposite 
page shows one of Burbank's cherry trees which 
has produced as high as 500 kinds of cherries 
at the savie time — this for the purpose of con- 
venient comparison and intelligent selection, 

10 



Grafting Methods Tliat Wiii 
Work Miracles 

General Principles 

THE single principle that underlies all successful graft- 
ing, is that the layer of tissue called the cambium 
layer^ lying just beneath the bark of the twig^ shall be 
brought in intimate contact with the corresponding layer of 
tissue of the stock on which it is grafted. The life-giving 
sap flows through this thin layer of tissue only. As to the 
central woody tissues — the so-called heart of the twig — 
there will be no union between stock and cion in any case. 

But this is of no consequence since the new growth of 
wood soon covers the trivial wound with which the cambium 
layer will make ready union under favorable circumstances; 
and the growth will continue outward^ year by year^ until 
ultimately the cion and stock are so firmly joined that they 
constitute a branch as strong as the ungrafted branches of 
the tree. But unless the living tissues of the cambium 
layer are accurately joined^ no union can take place^ and 
the graft will be a failure. If this essential principle is 
borne in mind^ the process of grafting becomes a compara- 
tively simple one^ and one that may be carried out success- 
fully by amateurs with very little preliminary practice. 

A few specific hints as to the details of the method may, 
however^ be of service. So I shall give a brief account of 
the methods employed in my orchards^ where the process 
of grafting is carried out thousands of times each year. 

Grafting may be divided under three headings: (1) 
Grafting proper^ in which a cion or small shoot is inserted 
into or upon the stock; (2) Inarching/ in which the cion is 
left attached to its parent stock until union with the new 
stock is completed; (3) Buddings which consists of the in- 
sertion of a single bud upon the cambium layer of the stock. 
There is no fundamental difference between the three proc- 
esses; they are merely different methods of accomplishing 
the same purpose. 

Grafting may be more or less successfully carried on at 
any time of the year. But durino; the spring and early 
summer months the vital cambium zone is usually at the 

11 



maximum of activity^ forming wood tissue from its inner 
surface and bark from its outer surface. At this time of 
maximum growth^ wounds are rapidly healed^ and union 
between a cion and stock is most rapidly secured. Nursery- 
men and fruit growers take advantage of this fact. 

The most gratifying results almost always follow spring 
grafting or summer budding. It is necessary, however^ that 
there should be activity enough in the sap movement to 
form the cellular connection between the stock and the bud 
before the latter perishes from drying out; sap flow is also 
necessary to allow the bark to be lifted readily from the 
cambium for the insertion of buds. 

The best success usually follows the /grafting of mature^ 
or nearly mature^ buds in the case of trees and shrubs; 
though young tender buds often thrive nearly as well. 

The More Common Methods 

The best and quickest way to graft young seedlings is 
by '*side'' grafting. This graft is made by taking a piece 
of the new wood from the tree to be multiplied^ about 2 V2 
inches long^ with well-formed buds on it. Slice off both 
sides of the lower end of the graft in the form of a sloping 
wedge, the cuts on each side being not much over one inch 
long. Both sides should be alike, but one of the edges 
should be thicker than the other. 

The tree to be grafted is bent to one side with the left 
hand. With the right hand a sloping gash is made down- 
ward on one side of the tree just above the ground, and the 
graft, described above, is pushed down into this cut as far 
as it will go. The cambium layers of the cion and seedling 
meet at some point, and a union with the tree is formed. 
After the cion has been placed, the tree is allowed to spring 
back to its upright position, and is at once cut off with a 
pair of pruning shears, about two inches above the graft. 

In grafting cions on the branches of trees, as in trans- 
forming large trees or whole orchards, the so-called ''cleft" 
graft is usually employed. In preparing for this, the 
branch of the stock tree is sawed off at a convenient place, 
the exact position being determined by the character of the 
experiment. If v/e are seeking to make a permanent tree, 
the graft is implanted upon the limb not more than a foot 

12 



or two from the trunk. But where it is intended merely to 
test the cion as to its fruiting possibilities, time being an 
object, it is placed far out among the smaller branches by 
what is called the ''tongue/' or "whip/' graft. 

In sawing limbs over an inch thick to serve as stocks, 
care must be exercised that the limb does not split. In 
order to avoid this, saw part way through from the bottom, 
and finish it by sawing from the top. Most persons who 
graft do not trim the stock after it has been cut, but I have 
found that the cambium layers join much more readily if 
the top of the stock is trimmed carefully with a knife, so 
that it is smooth all around the edges. Clean incisions heal 
best with vegetable as with animal tissues. 

In making the ''cleft" graft, the stock is split with a 
grafting tool. The wedge-shaped portion of this tool is 
for the purpose of holding the cleft open until the cions 
have been inserted. The cions are cut and connected with 
the bark usually one on each side of the cleft. When the 
tool is removed, the sides of the stock hold the cions tightly, 
so that it is seldom necessary to tie a string or piece of 
cloth around the graft. It is usually best to put on a piece 
of cloth, however, after waxing. This insures more uniform 
results. 

Grafting wax, a formula for which will be given pres- 
ently, is usually applied several inches below the crack 
which was made for the cleft in which to insert the cions. 

In some cases, however, the stock will later crack below 
the point where the grafting v/ax was applied, and when 
this occurs there is danger of the graft dying. For this 
reason it is wise to examine the grafts and where any open 
crack is found, additional wax should be applied. 

Grafting-Wax Formula 

Mention has been m^de of grafting wax, as being very 
generally used to protect cion and stock during the progress 
of healing and union of tissue. After testing many formu- 
las, I selected the following, and no other has been used 
for many years. 

Eight pounds of common resin and one pound of beeswax 
or paraffin (either will do if no acid or alkali is present, 
though beeswax is generally preferred) are mixed with one 

13 



and a half pounds of raw linseed oil. Boiled oils often con- 
tain chemicals injurious to plant life. If the wax is to be 
used in cold weather^ it is better to use only seven and a 
half pounds of resin and a half pound of beeswax in the 
mixture^ thus giving slightly thinner consistency. 

The ingredients are slowly heated together until the resin 
and wax are melted and all thoroughly combined. This 
composition when partly cooled is poured into pressed tin 
pans^ to make cakes of convenient size for handling. The 
mixture sticks to the tin with great persistence; but by 
turning the pan upside down and pouring boiling water 
over it the wax can be shaken from the pan. 

These cakes are broken into pieces of convenient size^ 
and in use the wax is kept warm in any convenient dish or 
pan having a short strong handle. The wax may be heated 
over a small coal-oil stove^ and when applied to the grafts 
should be much warmer than can be borne by the hand^ 
but not hot enough to scald the plant tissues. If heated in 
a double heater, the danger of overheating is lessened. 

If applied with care with a small paint brushy first around 
the thick bark of the stocky and later^ as the wax on the 
brush cools^ on and about the cuts and open joints^ no harm 
will result. The plan of brushing the hot wax about the 
graft, instead of applying it by the fingers in the tedious 
old-fashioned way saves nine-tenths of one's time^ and does 
far better work than could ever be done by the old method. 

If the wax should prove to be too soft and sticky^ as is 
sometimes the case in very warm weather, melt it over 
again with more resin added. If too brittle, add a little 
more linseed oil so as to bring it to the right consistency to 
spread well, and at the same time *'set" well on cooling. 
It gives the most satisfactory results when about the con- 
sistency of ordinary chewing gum. — Luther Burbank. 

(Vol. II, p. 309-322) 

An Apple Graft One Year Old 

As evidence of the success of Mr. Burhomh^s 
methods in producing quick results, the apple 
graft illustrated on the opposite page, shown in 
full hearing after only one year's growth, speaks 
eloquently . 

14 



When Burbank Was Just 
a Beginner 

THE picturesque New England town of Lancaster^ 
Massachusetts, was a rendezvous for ministers, lec- 
turers^ and teachers^ and was charged to an unusual degree 
with intellectual activity. Into this environment, March 7. 
1849^ was born Luther Burbank^. the thirteenth child of 
Olive Ross and Samuel Walton Burbank. 

Luther was a quiet, serious child, whose most noticeable 
trait was a love for flowers that amounted almost to rev- 
erence. From his earliest boyhood he studied plants, trees, 
fruits., garden vegetables — in fact, everything that grew 
from the earth. 

But plants did not demand his entire attention. He re- 
ceived an excellent fundamental education at Lancaster 
Academy^ took great interest in chemistry and mechanics^ 
learned the useful trade of carpentry, and for a time 
worked in a factory near his home. At twenty years of 
age. Burbank decided that a physician's profession would 
be most congenial as a life work, and began the study of 
medicine. However^, the death of his father caused him to 
abandon this purpose. 

Soon after Samuel Burbank's death the family moved to 
Groton — now kno^vn as Ayer, Massachusetts; and Luther 
purchased a seventeen-acre farm in the nearby village of 
Lunenburg, to be used for raising seeds and garden prod- 
ucts. This was the beginning of definite experiments vrith 
plants. 

The Burbank potato, Burbank's most famous product, 
also his first, was evolved largely by accident in his early 
experiments on the Lunenburg farm. A rare seed-ball of 
the Early Rose potato afforded the material which made 
possible this valuable discovery. Burbank planted the 
twenty-three tiny seeds the ball contained and selected one 
of the resulting plants as possessing the best qualities. 

In 1875. after three years at Lunenburg. Burbank sud- 
denly decided to move to California. 

Ten Burbank potatoes, retained by their originator and 
constituting Burbank's most tangible asset in beginning his 



new career in California^ were planted on his brother's 
farm, and the entire product of the first season was saved 
and replanted; so that by the end of the second season the 
stock was large enough to offer for sale. 

But victory was not won without an heroic struggle and 
years of persistent effort^ for it should be remembered that 
Burbank was blazing a new path — a path that others may 
now follow with comparative ease^ since he has cleared the 
way. 

During the fourth year at Santa Rosa an incident of 
momentous importance occurred^ an event that proved to be 
the definite turning point toward marked success. Burbank 
received a "rush" order from Mr. Warren Button^ a wealthy 
merchant and banker of Tomales^ who had become suddenly 
interested in prune growing and wished to undertake it on 
a large scale with the least possible delay. Mr. Button 
required 20^000 prune trees to be produced in a single 
season. 

Though this was an unprecedented task^ Burbank brought 
his ingenuity and resourcefulness to bear on the problem^ 
and solved it to the consternation of a skeptical world. By 
placing French prune buds on the required number of 
almond seedlings^ which sprout almost as readily as corn, 
the miracle was accomplished^ and within the time specified. 
Never before or since, so far as is known, was a two- 
hundred-acre orchard developed in a single season. 

At this point Burbank ceased to be just a beginner and 
entered the ranks of the successful plant breeders. The 
prune experiment served to advertise his work locally, and 
by cumulative degrees his fame spread throughout the nation 
and eventually became worldwide. By the end of the tenth 
year in California, the quality of the products and reliabil- 
ity of the Burbank ''Santa Rosa Nursery'' became so widely 
known that he was selling over $16,000 worth of trees and 
plants per year. 



16 



As the World Knows 
Burbank To-day 

THE pioneer in any new line of thought is usually 
first ridiculed and frowned upon; then abused; later 
endured and pitied; and afterward accepted as an oracle. 
Such was the lot of Luther Burbank, but with patience and 
fortitude^ not heeding the skeptics and cynics^ he struggled 
forward from the humble position of lowliest beginner to 
the envied heights of the world's foremost plant breeder. 

Burbank and Edison 

Luther Burbank holds much the same place in the hearts 
and admiration of his fellow men as Thomas Edison. They 
have a great deal in common. Both are known as ''wizards" 
and ''geniuses/' whereas their accomplishments have been 
chiefly the reward of hard work with intelligence to guide 
them; both have passed the traditional three score and ten 
years and are still tremendously keen in their enjoyment of 
life and work. 

Thousands of people make pilgrimages to Burbank's ex- 
perimental farm at Santa Rosa^ in the hope that they 
may be permitted to see and talk with the famous "Plant 
Wizard.'' Visitors were welcomed until Burbank found it 
impossible to carry on his work and still meet personally 
the rapidly increasing number^ many of whom had jour- 
neyed far to confer with him and to learn his methods. 
Among these were men and women prominent in literature^ 
art, science^ education^ finance^ those connected with gov- 
ernments of most foreign lands^ and many whose names 
are familiar in song and story. 

During the last ten years he has spared the time to 
see but few of those desiring an interview. Invitations to 
write and to lecture in this and other lands have neces- 
sarily been declined by him. He Is too busy making plant 
history to devote his valuable time to public appearances or 
to playing host to visiting admirers. 

A Glimpse of a Unique Genius 

Although the name of Luther Burbank is familiar 
throughout the whole civilized worlds and even where civili- 

17 



zation is but partial^ yet very few appreciate fully how 
strenuous and comprehensive has been his work. 

By practice and concentration^ Burbank has developed 
his mental and physical powers to a most unusual degree. 
After fifty years of grueling and continuous effort^ he is 
now able to conduct simultaneously and keep fully famil- 
iar with every detail of thousands of different experiments. 

The responsiveness of the senses to conscious training is 
dramatically demonstrated by the following true incident 
which occurred at Santa Rosa. Some years ago Mr. Bur- 
bank passed a bed of verbenas just coming to blossom. 
Suddenly he stopped^ dropped to his hands and knees and 
began crawling through the verbena bed. He had noticed 
the familiar trace of the delicate trailing arbutus odor com- 
ing from unscented verbenas. He searched until he had 
located the plant sending it forth^ and then was ready to 
begin the production of a sweet-scented verbena. Yet 
Burbank says: *'There is no magic in it; every person 
equipped with a good nose and a good pair of eyes can 
reach the same sensitiveness." 

As a demonstration of his invincible patience when striv- 
ing for a desired improvement^ his work with the daisy 
may be taken as typical. In developing the Shasta Daisy, 
Burbank produced millions of plants and blossoms, destroyed 
ninety out of every hundred, and continued with the seeds 
of the survivors until he had developed the exact product 
he had visualized. 

The great plant breeder spares neither time nor effort 
when working out his theories. He has recently com- 
pleted an experim^ent, the result of which attracted nation- 
wide attention. Eighteen years ago he began, and has 
lately completed, the arduous task of retracing the evolution 
of corn from the Indian grass teosinte. By nature's un- 
aided and undirected processes it had taken generations to 
accomplish the evolution. 

No Magic Wand 

Like Antaeus, Luther Burbank lives close to the soil and 
receives new strength from daily contact with it. He car- 
ries no wizard's wand, possesses no magic power. What he 

IcS 



has done he has accomplished, despite the handicaps of ill 
health and abject initial poverty. And he assures others^ 
if they have the will^ patience^ and persistence^ they can 
reach the heights he has attained. 

Tributes by Contemporary Scientists 

The ardent admirers of Burbank are legion. He is one 
of America's most beloved and notable figures^ and not 
only as a plant breeder^ but as a scientist of first rank and 
a great public benefactor. 

The following appreciations by several eminent contem- 
porary scientists have special value coming as they do from 
men supremely qualified to judge or to give praise: 
DR, HUGO DE VRIES, 
Botanist of the University of Amsterdam. 

*'A unique, great genius ! To see him was the prime 
reason of my coming to America. He works to definite 
ends. He ought to be not only cherished but helped. 
He should be as well known and as widely appreci- 
ated in California as among scientific men in Europe." 
DR. VERNON KELLOGG, 

Internationally Famous Geologist and Naturalist. 

'*The final and most important factor of Burbank's 
success is the inherent personal genius of the man, his 
innate sympathy with nature^ aided by the practical 
education in plant biology derived from years of 
constant study and experiment which enable him to 
perceive correlations and outcomes of plant growth 
which seem to have been visible to no other man." 

DAVID STARR JORDAN, 
President of Stanford University. 

"I have called Burbank a botanist because he is 
one in the highest^ the original meaning of the word. 
Burbank's special field is that of plant genetics ; here 
he is artist as well as scientist. Academic^ no — ^but 
science is not necessarily bred in the academy. In the 
application of a knowledge of heredity to the art to 
which it gives rise in the plant worlds his supremacy 
is unchallenged.'' 

19 



The Old Way— and the New 



YEARS ago farming and gardening were *liit or miss" 
performances. Farmers tried methods because some- 
one else had used them, and but few knew the reasons for 
any of the operations. 

The old way of planning an orchard, a vegetable garden, 
or a flower garden was to look over a catalogue and order 
half a dozen of this or a half a dozen of that, especially if 
the name was attractive^ without asking any questions or 
gaining information as to whether the varieties selected 
were adapted to the region where they were to be grown. 
And the old way was to accept the form of plants or trees 
as they tended to grow, with little or no attempt to change 
them. 

But the new way is to select varieties with the utmost 
care., paying heed to questions of soil and climate, introduc- 
ing only such varieties as are adapted to the conditions that 
must be met. 

There is a new i^leasure and captivating purpose in 
farming and gardening through growing plants for more 
than beauty and usefulness — through growing them to 
make them take on valuable new forms. The modern plant 
grower is by no means content to leave everything to nature 
— he takes a hand himself and helps nature produce the 
forms or qualities he desires. 

One can hardly pick up the day's paper without seeing 
new evidence of the present-day interest in plant experi- 
mentation. In this modern progressive trend, Luther 
Burbank is by far the foremost exponent. In the field of 
plant culture and plant improvement he has no peer either 
in popularity or accomplishment. But there are also grati- 
fying indications that, more and more^ others working in the 
manner of Burbank are producing results that rival even 
the great plant wizard's accomplishments in particular 
instances. 



Burbank's ways are nature's ways, in which suc- 
cess comes to tliose who follow them most closely. 

20 



Interesting News Items About 
Recent BurbankCreations 

Burbank Has New Flower He Calls '^Molten Fire'' 

Saxta Rosa^ Cal., Oct. 8. — On the occasion of a 
visit this afternoon of Jan Ignace Paderewski, famous 
musician^ to the gardens of I.uther Burbank, noted 
plant creator, announcement ^vas made for the f.rsi 
time of a new Burbank flower creation. 

The new creation which Burbank had named "^lol- 
ten Fire/' is a gorgeouslv colored flower of the poin- 
setta type, its brilliance eclipsing anything heretofore 
produced in the flower kingdom^, according to those 
who have seen it. 

Paderewski pronounced it the most wonderful 
flower he had ever seen. The **new amaranthus" is 
the botanical name given the creation bv Burbank. 

Lincoln Star, 

Large Hulless Oats Perfected 

Saxta Rosa, Cal._, Jan. 13. — Xew^ white hulless 
oats that thresh out like wheat and weigh approxi- 
mately 60 pounds to the bushel instead of 45 pounds, 
is one of the chief new horticultural productions of 
Luther Burbank. ''plant wizard," just announced. 

Pittsburgh Leader. 

Thousands of Lives Reported Saved by 
Burbank Cactus 

Santa Rosa, Cal.. Nov. 16.^ — Lives of thousands 
of persons in Lutye,, the farming regions of India, 
have been saved by the Luther Burbank spineless 
cactus, according to Booth Tucker. Commissioner in 
the Salvation Army, who recently visited Burbank at 
his home here. 

Tucker, who was formerly a judge in India, de- 
clared that the planting of the spineless cactus in 
regions that previously had been periodically ravaged 
by famine and disease^ had solved the problem for 

21 



these districts and provided food for thousands who 
might otherwise have perished. 

Red Bluff, CaL, News. 

Farmer's Debt to Burbank — Experimenting with 
Teosinte Grass, the Great Naturalist Produced a 
Perfect Fodder Plant. 

Beginning in IgOS^ Luther Burbank set about to 
experiment with teosinte grass in the effort to estab- 
lish proof of its origin. After 18 years of selecting 
seedsj he carried teosinte through successive stages 
of development and produced perfect ears of corn. 

Nor is this all of the story. Incidentally^ Mr. 
Burbank created a productive fodder plant. Until 
now all teosinte had to be raised in southern Florida 
or some other tropical climate. Through scientific 
breedings Mr. Burbank developed varieties of this 
grass which may be produced profitably as much as 
1^000 miles farther north and south of its original 
home. In the northern States it is now possible to 
produce fifty times as much fodder as the commonly 
cultivated teosinte of the Souths and fifty times the 
amount of grain. j^^ j^^j^f^ Democrat, 

South African Visits Burbank 

W, G. Wimshaw^ fruit grower of South Africa^ was 
a visitor at the home of Luther Burbank. Wimshaw 
owns a large part of the Cecil Rhodes farm near 
Capetown^ and discussed the latest developments in 
fruit growing. 

Wimshaw stated that a number of Burbank's crea- 
tions in fruit had developed well in South Africa. 

Santa Rosa Republican, 

Fruit from Cacti 

The newest achievement of Burbank is the produc- 
tion of cacti that bear fruits beautiful to the eye and 
with flavors resembling those of peaches, muskmelons^ 
pineapples^ etc.^ yet sufficiently unlike to render them 
appetizing novelties. 

Philadelphia Ledger, 

22 



What Others Have Done Work- 
ing in the Manner of Burbank 

—Why Not You? 

Burbanking Flowers into New Forms of Foliage 
and New Faces of Beauty Is an Art of Neighbor 
Pommert of Amelia. 

Mr. Chas. Pommert^ of Amelia^ has propagated a 
new gladiolus that is said to be pure white. It is 
called Purity^ and is attracting a great deal of atten- 
tion from leading florists all over the country^ and 
was highly commended by judges at the recent meet- 
ing of the Society of American Florists at Washing- 
ton, D. C. 

Batavia, Ohio, Courier. 

Second Burbank Has Been Found — Minnesota 
Farmer Learns How to Color and Flavor 
Muskmelons. 

The discoveries of the marvelous possibilities of 
horticulture are yet in infancy. Burbank is the pio- 
neer in this department of agriculture. His example 
has set thousands of expert gardeners to work mak- 
ing tests, the results of some of them being really 
astounding. 

C. W. Marshall, Minneapolis, Minn., has achieved 
the almost impossible, from the standpoint of the 
horticulturist, in bringing out seedless varieties of 
vegetable fruit, and coloring and flavoring muskmelons 
as desired. "Muskmelons may be flavored easily," he 
told the growers. ''Constant experiment with flowers, 
vegetables, trees, and plants has led to many an in- 
teresting discovery,'' he says, 'Svith an unending field 
always open to the one who will spend his time play- 
ing cards with those provided by nature.'' 

Findlay Republican, 

23 



That ''Nine-Acre Farm"— A Preachment on Faith 
and Accomplishment as Demonstrated by Dr. 
George M, TwitcheiFs Little Farm in Monmouth, 
Me. 

{Arthur C. Staples, in the Lewiston Journal) 

Many hundreds of persons have visited a nine-acre 
farm in Monmouth^ Maine^ to see the trees in bearing. 
It is conducted by Dr. George M. Twitchell of 
Auburn^ Maine. 

The plum trees alone are worth a journey to see. 
Back of them, a little distance^ are the apple trees. 
These carry a burden such as one rarely sees. The 
great Wolf River apple is one of the loveliest things 
that grow. It is refined by study and eugenics — and 
we know not how far it may be carried if such men 
as Dr. Twitchell, Burbank^ and the like go on study- 
ing the question of the religion of the soil. 

Here are soil^ sun, water, air — no other alchemy. 
There is nothing here that others may not do. 

Hand-Pollenization of Flowers Works Miracles in 
Garden of City's Own '^Luther Burbank". 

A painter with the earth for his canvas. This is 
G. W. Dodder, Muscatine's Luther Burbank. He pro- 
duces flowers of color shades and blends which would 
drive a painter to madness were he to try to reproduce 
them on canvas. 

His lawn and garden is a thing of beauty, especially 
in the early morning when the hundreds of varieties 
and shades of bloom are at their best ; and what is 
best of all to him, most of the rare and exotic blooms 
are produced by hand poUenizing of the common 
varieties of flowers. 

Some of the old-time favorite fruits and flowers 
which are now in disfavor with nurserymen and 
florists contain the best flavors, the most beautiful col- 
orings, and the sweetest aromas, Mr. Dodder claims, 
and it was from these that the now popular varieties 
have sprung. 

Muscatine, Iowa, Journal, 
24 



LUTHER BURBANK 



HOW PLANTS ARE TRAINED TO WORK FOR MAN 

EIGHT BEAUTIFUL BOUND VOLUMES 
2,944 PAGES 
110 CHAPTER TITLES 
390 FULL COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS 
PREFATORY NOTE BY DAVID STARR JORDAN 

Volume I 
PLANT BREEDING 
Volume II 
GRAFTING AND BUDDING 
Volume III 
FRUIT IMPROVEMENT 
Volume IV 
SMALL FRUITS 
Volume V 
GARDENING 
Volume VI 
USEFUL PLANTS 
Volume VII 

FLOWERS 

Volume VIII 

TREES, BIOGRAPHY, INDEX 

P. F. COLLIER & SON COMPANY : PMishers 
NEW YORK 
25 



THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN 

MADISON 

M. V. O'SHEA 
Professor of education 



December 5, 1921. 

Dear Mr. Burbank: 

Yesterday I received a 
set of your beautiful books. I 
have spent a number of hours with 
them, and they are fascinating 
and most instructive. Young per- 
sons, as well as older ones, will 
be instructed and delighted by 
reading these books. The story 
of your ackiievements in the im- 
provement of fruits and flowers 
and vegetables and everything in 
the plant v/orld reads like a 
fairy tale. I cannot imagine any 
person who would not like to read 
this story. 

I congratulate you upon 
having put what you have accom- 
plished into such form that it 
will be accessible to people 
everywhere. I will put them to 
good use here, for I know I will 
do my students a service in 
directing their attention to them. 

Cordially yours, 

(Signed) M.V.O'Shea 



Rc prod need with pemtissio?i 
26 



The Evidence— 



THE Burbank books were hardly off the press and in the 
hands of the first readers before evidence began to 
come in proving beyond question that the great plant 
breeder's contribution to plant lovers is just as fascinating 
and helpful to them as the publishers had confidently pre- 
dicted. 

An early^ and one of the finest testimonials^ was volun- 
tarily submitted by Prof. M. V. O'Shea^ Professor of Edu- 
cation at the University of Wisconsin. Professor O'Shea 
was not only frankly enthusiastic in his praise of the works 
of Luther Burbank^ but was willing that we should include 
his letter in this booklet as an assurance of their value to 
prospective owners of the books. Read his letter on the 
opposite page. 

Another interesting and valuable indorsement came from 
quite a different source — from an amateur gardener^ who 
wrote in part: "These books will certainly be a great bene- 
fit to plant improvement, if the people interested in this 
work will only read them. A man in this business could 
not make a better investment than to buy a set and read it 
thoroughly. The methods are explained so clearly and 
with the help of the many and beautiful illustrations_, there 
is no trouble at all to understand the many subjects de- 
scribed. It is a great work for which the world should 
feel grateful. I am only an amateur with a small garden, 
but I am very much interested in this work and I am sure 
I will learn much from the books." 

Such letters as Professor O'Shea's and the amateur 
gardener's^ are most encouraging to the publishers in their 
efforts to assist Mr. Burbank in preaching the gospel of 
the soil to plant lovers everywhere. 



*'It Is a Work for Which the World Should 
Feel Grateful" 

27 



IN the new Burbank books may be found all that the 
world is eager to know about the author — the interesting 
story of his long and fruitful life^ the secret of his success^ 
his methods and discoveries. 

Over fifty years of unparalleled patience and persistence 
is condensed into eight fascinating volumes. 

Beauty 

Their beauty in design^ bindings and illustration will 
make them a distinctive feature in any library 

Interest 

They are excursions into a wonderful land of fact^ yet 
read like stories of the strangest magic. Here for the first 
time is furnished, in convenient and authoritative form^ in- 
formation concerning the mysteries of nature you have 
long wondered about. 

Practical Value 

They are simple, direct^ intimate chats with the dean of 
plant breeders. They teach as well as record the methods 
chat have accomplished the miracles of Burbank fame. 



28 



Beautiful and Helpful Color 
Illustrations 



THE profuse color illustrations that beautify and en- 
rich the Burbank books are a vital part of the text^ for 
they show more clearly than words could possibly describe^ 
the actual wonderful developments and improvements Bur- 
bank has accomplished. They stand as indisputable evi- 
dence of his marvelous achievements ; but they do more than 
this — they show graphically the methods of plant culture 
recommended by the author^ even to such details as the 
tools used in practical work^ the preparation of the soil, 
the proper processes of transplanting, and the construction 
of necessary equipment. 

Mechanically, no finer examples of the art of color print- 
ing could be imagined. The bright, fresh tones of ripe, 
luscious fruits and berries; the richer and deeper tones of 
foliage; and the variegated colors of blooming flowers, are 
as real as in nature. They are not reproductions of paint- 
ings, but of photographs taken from living plants — abso- 
lutely truthful in form and coloring. 



The specimen prints included in this booklet are 
representative of the 390 full-page color illustra- 
tions which appear in the complete set. 

29 



These Nature Riddles — 



What plant 'Svears its heart on its sleeve"? 

Wliat new food plant is descended from poisonous 

ancestors ? 
What flower has the tobacco habit? 

Why do not plants cross in a state of nature so as to dis- 
rupt the whole order of creation? 
How did the peach get its fuzzy coat and why? 
What may be regarded as the typical or perfect flower? 
Why does the coconut have three eyes ? 
Vrhat is the secret of the jumping bean? 
Where do flowers get their colors? 

What flower advertises to the flies to act as its messengers 

of pollination? 
A^Tiere and how did life start? 
^'^Tiat is the purest white in nature? 

From what plant was corn evolved, and how did it acquire 

its present qualities? 
How may we account for the fact that bees and other 

insects have the same taste in color and perfumes that 

we human beings have? 
How far can plant improvement go? 

How are new traits in plant life flxed and made permanent? 
What was the first form of primitive living organism 

which appeared on this planet? 
Why is it that every native plant growing on the desert 

is either bitter, poisonous^ or spiny? 
vVhat plant eats and digests insects ? 

How can seeds store up the tendencies of their ancestry? 
Why should you plant potato seeds instead of eyes to 
develop new varieties? 



—Are Answered by Burbank in His Works and 
Countless Others Just as Unusual and Interesting 

HO 



Representative Chapter Titles 



THE following representative list^ selected from the 
110 chapter titles that appear in the complete work^ 
shows how the author treats just the subjects that are full 
of interest^ yet those that meet the outstanding practical 
problems of plant improvement. 

Fundamental Principles of Plant Breeding 

How Plants Adapt Themselves to Conditions 

Twenty-Three Potato Seeds and What They Taught 

Let Us Now Produce Some New Colors in Flowers 

Short Cuts into the Centuries to Come 

The White Blackberry 

The Stoneless Plum 

The Winter Rhubarb 

Planning a New Plant 

Practical Pollination 

Grafting and Budding 

Fixing Good Traits 

Recording Experiments 

Hastening Methods of Fruit Improvement 

The Thornless Blackberry and Others 

Designing a Strawberry to Bear the Year Around 

Inedible Fruits Which May Be Transformed 

Some Common Garden Plants and Their Improvement 

Corn — The King of America's Crops 

The Family of Grasses 

31 



Chapter Titles—Continued 

Food for Live Stock 

A Rich Field for Work in the Textile Plants 

Plants Which Yield Useful Chemical Substances 

Reclaiming the Deserts with Cactus 

What to Work for in Flowers 

Ornamental Palms and Climbing Vines 

Lawns and Their Beautification 

Nuts as a Profitable Crop 

Growing Trees for Lumber 

Trees and Shrubs for Shade and Ornament 

Working with a Universal Flower — the Rose 

The Rivalry of Plants to Please Us 

Marvelous Possibilities in the Improvement of Plants 

How the Garden May Be Made More Productive 

Letting the Bees Do Their Work 

Personal and Historical 

Patience and Its Reward 



Burbank's laboratory is the great out-of-doors. 
He lives close to the soil and receives new strength 
from daily contact with it. The only agencies 
he employs are earth, sun, water, air — no other 
alchemy; not a thing that the humblest plant 
lover does not have at his disposal. 



32 



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